Easel.



PATEN TED MAR. 13, 1906.

E. J. TRUM.

BASEL. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I lm-meme; I

PATBNTED MAR. 13, 1906. I E. J. TRUM.

BASED. APPIJIOATION 1-11.21) MAY 29. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEETZ- witnco oeo I v UNITED STATES IPA-TENT OFFICE. 1 v

. EMANUEL J. .TRUM, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

EASEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

7 Application filed May 29, 1905- ellall. N0. 262,727-

Pat'ented March 13, 1906.

' citizen of the United States, residing at New support.

-cles.

York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Easel, of which the following is aspecification. I

My invention relates to an easel or support for cards, pictures, panels, and the like arti- The object of my invention is, first, to pro duce an easel-or support which shall be adapts ed to be folded more or less flat and when opened out furnish a firm, strong, and durable support for the article to which it is applied; second, to provide an easel or support which can be manufactured from a comparatively light and economical materialsuch, for example, as card or paste board'and thus produce an article that can be sold at a low price, buthaving sufficientstrength for the purpose for which it is used; third, to provide means for positively fastening the easel and preventing it from collapsing when opened out to support the article to which it is applied; fourth, to produce a foldable-easel and means for fastening the same and preventing it from collapsing, made in'a single piece by cuttinga blank of the proper shape out of the material, folding the same, and securing the-parts together to form the easel or support. y

1 The invention will be described in connectionwith the drawings and the features of novelt particularly set forth in the claims;

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspectiveview of my improved easel or support open and supporting a card, picture, or panel. Fig. 2 is-a rear elevation of the'same folded. Fig.3 is-a horizontal section' of the easel or support exaggerated somewhat in the thickness of the material. Fig.- 4 represents the blank for the easel or Fig. 5 is a' vertical section from front to back of the easel or support as the same is seen when opened. Figs. 6 and 7 represent modifications of the construction of the easel and support which are particularly useful when sheet metal is used in the manufacture of the article. Fig. 8 represents another modeof making the easel which is parresent any similar article to which the e'as'e'l' may be applicable. The easel (shown by Figs. 1 to 5) may be made out of any material to which glueor other adhesive will adhere. Confining the description to these figures, B designates the easel. It comprises a back a, a brace b, and a locking-tongue c. The easel is made by folding a blank D, Fig, 4, cut out of card or paste board or similar flexible material. This blank is cut out to form the outline of the top and bottom edges of 'thefront, sides, and back and of the top, bottom, and outside edges of the gluing-flap and the back. Thetop edges 1 2 3 of the sides e f are perpendicular to a line drawn vertically through the center of the front 9, and the bottom edges 4 5 6 thereof are perpendicular to the sides of the front g, and the top and bottom edges 7 8 of the back a and 9 10 of the'gluing-flap d are respectively per;- pendicular to the edges of the adjacent sides 6 f. The back a is divided from the sides 6 by a creased or scored line 11. The gluing-flap is divided from the side f 'bya similar line 12, and the front 9 is divided from the sides e f by creased or scored lines 13 14, respectively. The locking-tongue c is formed. in the front g and separated therefrom at'the sides by means of the incisions 15 16, coincident with the creased lines 13 14, and atthe bottom by the transverse incision 17, so that the tongue remains connected with the front at the upper endonly, where a creased line 17 forms its hinge. As the front 9 iswedge-shaped,

the creased lines 13 14 converge toward the top and the incisions 15 16 coincide with thelines. The tongue is-wider at its free end than at its attached end. Hence when the tongue is swung in horizontally, between the sides, which also converge toward the top, the

Wider bottom or free end is wedged between the sides, thereby holding them apart, preventing them from collapsing and fastening the easel in its open position.

- The easel is made up from the blank in the following manner: The creased lines form hinge-like joints on which the several parts can be turned to bring the parts into their proper relative positions toform the easel.

IIO

parallel to and laid on the outside of the flap- (Z, which is secured to the back with its edge 18 in contact with the side 6 at its junction with the back. By this means the easel is formed, and, as will be seen from Fig. 1, the brace part b is of a general pyramidal form, having a broad base and relatively narrow top.

The easel thus constructed is attached to the back of the object it is intended to support by fastening the back thereto by an adhesive or by a mechanical fasteningsuch, for example, as wire staples-if preferred. When thus fastened, the brace part b, owing to the creased lines 11 12 13 14, can be laid down more or less flat with one side nearly or jquite parallel to and in contact with the back of the card, panel, or picture and with the op posite side and the front in contact with the sides next to the back. To adapt it to sup port the object, the sides are turned up so as to bring the front to a position at right angles to the sides, and the tongue being pushed in between the sides locks and holds them apart, and the easel is thereby held in its supporting position.

By the construction shown by Figs. 6 and 7 the back a, sides e f, and front 9 are substantially the same as the corresponding parts heretofore described, except that the back has a tongue 19 on its free edge near the top for fastening one edge and another tongue 20 on the edge of the flap for fastening its opposite edge near the bottom. Tongue 19 is formed on the free edge of the back a and tongue 20 on the free edge of the flap (1 when the blank D is cut. A slit 20 is made through the side 6 parallel to, or it may be coincident with the creased line 11, and when the blank is folded to form the easel, as heretofore described, the tongue 20 is thrust through the slit 20 so that it will project outside and some little distance from the side e of the easel. To fasten the easel thus constructed, the tongues 19 20 are thrust through slits 22 23 under the back of the card, panel, or picture.

Another mode of making the easel to adapt it to be fastened otherwise than with an ad hesive is to provide a tongue 24 by cutting the same out of the side 6, but leaving it connected with the back a on the creased line 11. The other tongue 19 on the opposite edge is formed the same as that described in connection with Figs. 6 and 7. The easel is connected with the object by thrusting the tongues 19 24 through slits 22 23, as before described. In this form of my invention the flap dis fastened to the back a by an adhesive if the easel is made from cardboard or the like; but if made from metal it should be riveted or soldered.

T The back section a, it will be observed, is of rectangular form; but this is not absolutely essential, as it may conform more or less closely to the form of the front section g. The side, front, and flap sections being foursided, with their tops and bottoms parallel and their sides converging toward the top when folded, the easel has the shape of a truncated pyramid, which furnishes a secure and steady support for the object to which it is attached.

I claim- 1. An easel consisting of an integral piece of flexible material comprising a rigid section for attachment to a card, panel, picture or like object, side flap and front sections hinged together on lines that converge toward the top of the easel, the flap-section folded in against and fastened to the rigid section and the side sections adapted to be turned out at right angles to the flap and rigid sections and the front section to form a pyramidal easel, substantially as specified.

2. An easel consisting of an integral piece of flexible material comprising a rigid section for attachment to a card, panel or like object, hinged side flap and front sections hinged together on lines that converge toward the top of the easel, the front section having an integral wedge-shaped tongue connected therewith, the flap-section folded in against and fastened to the rigid section, the side sections adapted to be turned out at right angles to the flap and rigid sections and the front section to form a pyramidal easel and the tongue adapted to be swung in between the side sections to hold them apart and fasten the easel in its open supporting position, substantially as specified.

3. An easel comprising a rigid back section adapted for attachment to a card, panel, picture or the like, foldable sections that form the sides and front and a fastening-flap, one of the side sections hinged to the rigid section and the other to the flap which is turned in and fastened to the rigid section, and means for fastening the sides apart when open to hold the easel in its unfolded supporting position, substantially as specified.

4. An easel comprising a rigid back section adapted for attachment to a card, panel, picture or the like,four side foldable sections, the edges of adjoining sections hinged together on lines that converge toward the top of the easel, said sections forming the sides and front of the easel and a fastening-flap, one of the side sections hinged to the rigid section and the other to the fastening-flap which is turned in against and fastened to the rigid section, and means forfastening the sides apart when opened to hold the easel in its unfolded supporting position, substantially as specified.

5. An easel comprising a rigid rectangular back section adapted for attachment to the back of a card, panel picture or the like, fold.- able sections that form the sides and front of the easel and a fastening-flap, one of the side sections hin other to the fastening-flap which is turned in right angles to the against and fastened to the rigid section and a Wedge-shaped tongue connected With and.

forming an integral part of the front section, the side sections adapted to be turned out at rigid section the flapsection and the front section and to be held'in that position by means of the Wedge-shaped tongue When pushed in between the side sections, substantially as specified.

and tongue forming integral parts of. one another, the flap-section being turned in and fastened to the rigid section and'the side sections adapted to be turned out at right angles to the rigid section the flap and front sections, and the tongue adapted to be thrust in beged to the rigid section and the tangular section, side Which it is my invention I have subscribed tween said side sections to hold them apart to retain the easel in its unfolded supporting position, substantially as specified.

7. A blank for a foldable easel made in a single piece from cardboard comprisinga recsections, a flap-section and a front section the rectangular section and one of the side sections being divided from each other by the creased line, the front divided from the side sections by creased lines and the flap-section divided from the side to attached by a creased line, the creased divisional lines converging toward the top of the blank, and a wedge-shaped tongue in the front separated therefrom at the sides and free end by incised lines, substantially as specified. v

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my name in the presence of two Witnesses.

. EMANUEL J. TRUM. Witnesses:

PAULINE ROTH, WILLIAM BRASS. 

